10 Recent Sports Quotes to Save You from More Election Talk

Election talk has dominated the media for months, and that has certainly not stopped because November 8 has come and gone. In fact, it has probably only intensified.

Athletes, coaches and other sports figures have weighed in on the election results—after all, sports and politics are certainly not mutually exclusive.

That said, sports figures also have jobs to do. Leading up to and after the presidential election, they have kept to the task at hand. The Chicago Cubs won the World Series. The Golden State Warriors march on in their quest to avenge last year's NBA Finals loss.

And so, if you need a break from the current state of politics in America, sports have you covered.

Just for fun, here are 10 recent sports quotes that are likely to make you either smile, think or both. So go ahead, get your mind off the election talk, even if only for a few moments.

Gregg Popovich

Gregg Popovich and Tim Duncan are one of the greatest sports love stories of our time, right?  It feels like the San Antonio Spurs coach and his former star player are constantly putting their endearing relationship on display, and frankly, it's awesome.

Here they are in February laughing off some ill-advised trash talk by Salah Mejri of the Dallas Mavericks.

Upon Duncan's NBA retirement in July, Popovich said, "I would not be standing here if it wasn't for Tim Duncan. I'd be in the Budweiser League someplace in America, fat and still trying to play basketball or coach basketball," per Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com.

And when Duncan showed up to a Spurs practice in November, Pop joked, per Melissa Rohlin of the San Antonio Express-News, "We're like in love, we text all of the time." On if they use emojis, Pop laughed and said, "Only the ones where you blow kisses."

Gregg Popovich Again

And because Gregg Popovich is always good for a wonderful sound bite, here's a recent example of his legendary sarcasm.

In October, the San Antonio Spurs coach talked about his former player and current Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr.

Per Matt Bonesteel of the Washington Post, Pop said, "I hate Steve Kerr. If he asks me anything, I tell him to go urinate in a bucket. You can quote me on that."

Of course, he kids. Despite coaching a Western Conference rival, Kerr is a "close friend and coaching protege" to Popovich, per Carl Steward of the Mercury News.

That Pop is a master jokester, and here's hoping his quotes grace the sports world for a long time to come.

Olivier Giroud

Professional athletes are people, too. And as such, they have fears.

For example, Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud was once afraid of Alf—you know, the furry alien character from the 1980s television show by the same name.  

Anyway, here's Giroud explaining himself, per Rhodri Cannon of MailOnline:

"

This is so funny, but my brothers are older than me - I was the youngest, and they used to tease me about a kids TV character called Alf. Do you know him? Alf the Alien, my God he was so ugly and I was so scared of him.

My brothers used to say, 'Be careful, Alf is going to get you tonight!' They went too far with it!

"

Those older siblings can be the worst.

Isaiah Thomas

Kevin Garnett spent well over half his NBA career with the Minnesota Timberwolves, but he was also a legendary Boston Celtic. His 2008 championship celebration, "Anything is possible!" will go down in Boston sports lore.

So it's not surprising a current Celtic would look up to the recently retired Garnett, even aim to emulate him.

In November, Garnett praised Boston point guard Isaiah Thomas on NBA on TNT and said, "Isaiah's got so much heart and he plays so big. Very gritty, very tough," per Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com.

Thomas later responded, per Forsberg:

"

I'm the 5-9 Kevin Garnett. That's who I want to be. [Garnett's praise] means a lot. For a guy I looked up to, who I knew I would be nothing like [in size], but just the way he prepared himself, the way he didn't back down from anybody, and how he was so locked in. It was amazing to see that up close. For him to say that about me, that says a lot.

"

Good stuff. (Garnett is listed at 6'11" by Basketball Reference, by the way.)

Chael Sonnen

Conor McGregor will face Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205, and naturally, the preceding hype and trash talk have been real.

The UFC featherweight champion certainly thinks he's the GOAT, and he makes no secret of that. But does his belief have merit?

Bellator fighter (and legendary trash-talker in his own right) Chael Sonnen told Bleacher Report's Jonathan Snowden, "He is every bit as big as anyone who has come before him. His name belongs with all those greats. Get on the bandwagon, because it's real."

Does McGregor deserve to be in the same conversation as all-time great fighters like Muhammad Ali? Snowden examines the question.

Jim Harbaugh

No one can say Michigan Wolverines football coach Jim Harbaugh is boring.

For example, Fox's long-running animated comedy The Simpsons made a joke about Harbaugh during a November episode, and of course he had to respond.

On his weekly radio show, the coach said (via Isaiah Hole of 247 Sports), "It's one of my favorite shows. I love The Simpsons. The animated shows, The Simpsons and SpongeBob are two of my all-time favorites."

Asked about his favorite character on Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants, Harbaugh added:

"

SpongeBob! I love his attitude. He attacks each day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind! I've kind of modeled my behavior after him. We all should. What a great employee he is. He's a go-getter. He's always got a bounce to his step. He's got pizzazz. He puts his heart and soul into making those crabby patties. I think he's awesome.

"

Always thinking like a coach, that guy.

Marco Verratti

Here is a refreshing piece of candor from Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Marco Verratti.

Athletes make a lot of money; many might say too much. Per Stefan Coerts of Sporting News, a €100 million transfer figure (similar to those paid for Real Madrid's Gareth Bale and Manchester United's Paul Pogba) has been thrown around alongside Verratti's name.

Amid continuing transfer rumors, Verratti told Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport (via Coerts), "I am not worth €100 million. We are just playing football. These amounts of money make me laugh. No one is worth that much. And I think it is bad for the players for whom such fees are paid as well because people expect impossible things."

He's got some good points there.

Gary Lineker

Leicester City overcame 5,000-1 odds to win the Premier League title in 2015-16. Betting against them? Probably not a smart move.

And yet, former English footballer and current broadcaster Gary Lineker did it anyway.

In early November, he tweeted, "If Leicester retain the title I'll do the first MOTD next season naked, standing on my head while Shearer and Wrighty beat me with a stick."

1. "MOTD" stands for "Match of the Day." 2. Well, that's weird. 

As of October 24, per Odds Shark, Leicester fell behind several clubs—including Manchester City and Liverpool—in 2016-17 title odds. But again, it's probably not smart to count them out entirely.

J.R. Smith

Cleveland Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith has been an absolute gift to sports since the NBA Finals. His shirtless antics have inspired more than one joke from President Obama, and his daughter roasting him on television during the Finals is one of the more hilarious things you'll see in sports all year.

The point is, Smith can generally be counted upon for moments of delightful randomness.

Here's another example. In October, Smith told the New Yorker's Charles Bethea:

"

The dolphin is my favorite animal. It's graceful. When it jumps out of the water, it's one of the most peaceful things you can see. Especially when the sun is hitting off the water. There's something just so calm and peaceful about it. At the same time, if it goes down, a dolphin is like, O.K., let's go. I'm a dolphin. That's all people need to know.

"

Glorious.

Jon Lester

The Curse of the Billy Goat plagued the Chicago Cubs for decades. Supposedly, a man named William Sianis and his pet goat were turned away from entering a 1945 World Series game at Wrigley Field, and the former put a hex on the team.

You know the rest. The Cubs lost that series and didn't play in another one until 2016, at which time they emerged victorious for their first championship since 1908. The curse is gone. Thank you, Theo Epstein.

And yet, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester—who spent much of his career with the Boston Red Sox—didn't get the goat reference quite.

He said, per Tyler Kepner of the New York Times, "This is why I came here: to break the goat or the black cat or God knows what somebody else wants to talk about."

In his defense, black cats are supposedly bad luck as well.